


After the Ball - Chapter 3

by Gwynne



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-21
Updated: 2011-01-21
Packaged: 2017-10-14 22:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/154202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwynne/pseuds/Gwynne





	After the Ball - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Valentina… Vordarian.”

The Lord Auditor nodded, “Oh, one of old Count Oleg’s grand-daughters? Are you the one who breeds dogs?”

Lord Ivan looked over at the Auditor, “Irritating yappy little things.”

The two men glared at each other briefly.

“No.”

“Or,” the auditor went on briskly, “…are you the one who was just betrothed to Count Voreedi’s nephew?”

“No.”

“The one who got arrested for swimming naked in the fountain in the Great Square?”

Ivan smiled in fond recollection at that one.

“No.”

They waited for a moment, but there didn’t seem to be more explanation coming.

“Not that one? So which one are you?”

She stared out at the city she might not see again, “I’m not any of them.”

“So, some kind of relation then?”

“Yes, some kind.”

Ivan smiled at her, his automatic response-to-female kicking in, “I haven’t seen you at any of the Vor social bashes. Have you been in Vorbarr Sultana long?”

“Six years. Ever since I started at the university.” She was trying to keep her voice steady.

“But you don’t socialise? I’d remember you if I’d seen you at anything.” Ivan was busy generating his usual female-attracting field effect.

“Not much point, with my name.”

Miles frowned, “But there’s plenty of Vordarians around. Nobody worries about old history – Count Oleg was some sort of cousin to the Pretender, he stayed loyal to the Emperor, and was resoundingly voted in as Count in his place a year or so after the Pretendership. There’s no hard feelings towards him, or any of the family. Everyone has a few embarrassing relatives.” He glared at Ivan.

“I’m not close to that branch of the family.” The groundcar was turning into a courtyard, all high walls and stone-flagged paving and a forbidding building hunkered down in the centre of it all. Hard and cold. The gate guards had pinged the ID chip in the groundcar and waved them through.

“Well, here we are. Cockroach central.” Miles hopped out cheerfully. Ivan helped the prisoner out as courteously as if he were escorting her to a Midsummer Ball. But he kept a deceptively firm grip on her arm as he turned her towards the grim building.

Valya shuddered, then put her chin up and stepped forward.

Processing was quick: the retina scan, DNA check, voice print, full body scan for weapons, and all the other Impsec procedures that ran like a well-oiled machine. She didn’t resist, it was pointless.

All the time the Lord Auditor waited, with what he apparently thought was patience. Most people would have said he was so tense he was nearly vibrating. Ivan stayed safely in the background, an innocent bystander just keeping an eye on things.

At last it was all done. She expected a cell, but instead she was ushered into a small room. It looked like a harmless meeting room, with chairs around a central table. But some of the chairs had restraints built into the arms, and cupboards around the walls held the promise, or threat, of items that she didn’t want to think about. Two Impsec agents filed in and silently took up position, one behind her and one near the Lord Auditor.

Ivan ushered her to a chair, one with discreet wrist restraints. For all she knew, it was rigged to deliver electric shocks as well. Valya sat down carefully. She’d wake up soon. This wasn’t happening. It was just one more nightmare.

The small grey-suited nightmare in front of her reached for her wrist and placed a small patch there, then peeled it away again. They all watched in silence as nothing happened. After a full minute of nothing at all, the auditor discarded the patch and reached for a small silver hypospray. Ivan took a chair to one side of her as the auditor settled across the table and reached for her arm. Still working in silence, he rolled back her sleeve and pressed the hypospray against her skin.

Valya leaned back in her chair. It was over, she’d have no chance now.

“Count backwards from ten.”

She tried to stay silent, to at least resist that much, but soon she heard her voice… “…five…. four…”

And then the world was calm, and relaxed. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be happy.

Ivan watched as the foolish fast-penta smile settled on her face. “Miles, she’s just…” An auditorial glare made him fall silent.

Miles started the familiar routine, “What is your name?”

“Valentina Paulina Vordarian.”

“Who were your parents?”

“Christina Vorinnis Vordarian and Sergei Vordarian.”

“Where are they now?”

“Dead.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“No.” Sadness drove away the smile for a moment, “There’s only me. I’m all that’s left.”

“How are you related to Count Oleg?”

“ He’s a cousin. Distant cousin. I don’t have much contact with that part of the family.”

“Do you have a job?”

“Yes.” She nodded happily.

“What is your job?”

“Building renovation and conversion. My own consulting business. I studied architecture at university.” She smiled happily at him, “It seemed such a nice safe occupation. I should have known better.”

Now he was getting close to the good stuff, “How did you find the tunnel?”

“I was surveying a building. It’d been abandoned for ages, the new owners were going to convert it to apartments.”

“And you found the tunnel…”

She nodded happily, “I worked out where it was heading. I’m good with directions.” She looked at him with muzzy seriousness, “I’m good with maps, too. I worked out where the tunnel went. And I found the uniforms, the flimsies with guard rosters, and all the rest of it.” The sadness came back, “I thought I could be… a hero. Do something really good. Save the emperor. I thought it’d make up for everything. But it all went wrong.”

“You broke in to the Imperial Residence.”

She nodded mournfully, “Nobody would listen to me, so I thought that I would prove that it was possible. Then give the evidence to an armsman and go.”

“But instead you kidnapped the emperor.”

She gazed at him seriously, “I don’t think it was a full kidnap, after all he never left his own home. I just …tied the emperor up. Is that a crime?”

Miles became more Auditorial, “You broke into the Imperial Residence, which is treason. You rendered the emperor unconscious, which is treason. You tied the emperor up, an assault on his person which is - ”

“I know. Treason.”

“Well done. You assaulted and tied up an Imperial Auditor. Also, you guessed it, treason. And you drew a weapon in the presence of the Emperor, and discharged said weapon in the presence of the emperor. Also, yes, treason.”

Ivan stirred restlessly, “What about me? She tied me up too.”

Miles flicked a glance at him, “She gets you for free.” Ivan glared at him. Miles focussed his attention on the girl again, “So many treason charges - you’re setting new records.”

“She’s not the first one to fall into a few treason charges. It can happen to anyone,” Ivan offered helpfully.

Another glare. “Not quite so many. All at once. Now, Valya, you admit that you committed all these crimes?”

“Oh, yes.” She nodded with fast-penta solemnity.

Miles took her through it again, and again, but the answers kept coming back the same. Yes, she’d found the tunnel, realised what was going on, collected the proof and then tried to tell the authorities, failed to get any response, so she’d followed her insane plan to deliver the information direct to an armsman in the Residence. It didn’t get better no matter how he twisted it around.

Finally Miles leaned back, his work almost done, “Why didn’t you give your name to the Municipal guard when you contacted them? Or to Impsec?”

“My name hasn’t been much help to me. They wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Old history. Besides, there’s plenty of Vordarians around now, they don’t have any problems.”

“I’m not one of them.” She blinked at him, “Vorkosigan. Cordelia Vorkosigan’s son?”

Miles was more accustomed to being Aral Vorkosigan’s son. He nodded.

“Your mother killed my grandfather.” She frowned, “But it was fair, since my grandfather killed the emperor’s mother. I thought I could put it right, but it’s all gone so wrong.”

There was silence in the room for a moment.

Ivan leaned forward, “Who are you?”

“Valentina Paulina Vordarian.”

“No, but I mean…” He caught Miles’s glare and settled down again.

Miles took a deep breath, “Your grandfather was Vidal Vordarian? The Pretender?”

“Yes.”

“Your father was…his…son?” Miles tried frantically to remember any comments about a son.

“That’s right.”

“How…how did that come about?”

She frowned, “The usual way. They didn’t have replicators then.”

Miles sighed. Damn literal fast-penta.

“I didn’t know the Pretender was married.”

She blinked for a moment, then her mind headed down a familiar track and the words came easily, “Count Vidal – well, he wasn’t the count then, of course – but he was married when he was twenty. It was common then, they often got married as soon as they finished the Academy, so that they could have an heir quickly. Had to keep the line going, you know. Vidal’s wife was a Vorinnis. She died having my father. Vidal didn’t have a mother or sisters, so he let the Vorinnis side raise the baby. The boy. My father. He knew his father, but didn’t see him all that often. He went to the Academy, of course, then got ship duty right away. And while he was on that first assignment – that’s when the Pretender made his try for the throne. My father – he was loyal, totally loyal to the emperor, he knew nothing about Vidal’s plans. They fast-penta’d him, they knew he was innocent of it all. But he was put under close arrest anyway, for his own protection as much as anything else.”

She paused, but she didn’t need more prompting, the story was so familiar it carried her along. “By the time he got back to Barrayar it was all over. He was kept under arrest, but in the end he was totally cleared of all charges. Innocent.” She looked at then earnestly, “He was totally innocent. They all knew it.”

She shook her head mournfully, “But it made no difference. He was the Pretender’s son. He resigned his commission, left the Service – he so wanted to serve, but he knew it just wasn’t possible. I think that broke his heart. He gave up the Countship too, he knew they didn’t want to accept the Pretender’s son. Being innocent isn’t enough, sometimes. Blood still counts. So he gave it all up, his career, his title, all the property, everything. He went to live in the Vorinnis district on a property that had been part of his mother’s dowry. He tried to just be a farmer, he had his books and music, and he met my mother – she was a poor relation, acting as governess for the Vorinnis children, the family didn’t care who she married.”

She blinked at the memories, now it was her life and not just stories she’d heard as a child, “They were happy, really happy. They had me, he thought they could risk having one child, so long as it was a girl. No son, of course.” Even the fast-penta couldn’t stop the tears now, “She died when I was twelve. It was quick, she got sick so fast, she was gone in less than a week, the doctors couldn’t do anything. But da, he just couldn’t take it without her. He told me he had to follow her, he asked if I’d like to go with them. He didn’t want to leave me behind.”

Miles and Ivan shared a shocked gaze, trying to imagine a father who could either deliberately leave a young daughter alone in the world, or cold-bloodedly offer to take her life. Each of them had parents who would, and had, fought to the last drop of blood for them, this calm story shook them to the core.

Miles got control of his voice, “But you…decided to stay?”

She nodded, “Yes, I don’t know if that was the brave choice, or the cowardly one. He did it the next day, he made it look like an accident with his lightflyer. My grandparents, my Vorinnis grandparents, sent me to school.” She paused for a moment, “A school for sweet young Vor buds – it was pure hell. In the end I actually made a few friends, but … it wasn’t fun. University, that was better. I loved it, I did really well there, I’m working on my doctorate now. And I have the renovation business, it’s enough to support me. And everything is finally starting to go well. And now you’re going to execute me.”

She gazed at the small man in front of her, “I really thought… it was so stupid, but I thought I could …make up for things, somehow. Prove…something. Win back some honour. I just wanted to … to DO something…” Her face twisted in frustration, then was resigned again, I suppose it’s full circle, isn’t it. My grandfather killed the Emperor’s mother. Your mother killed my grandfather. Now you kill me. Is that a circle? Or a spiral…”

“Stop.”

The room was silent. Ivan watched the struggle on his cousin’s face, and wondered yet again how he’d managed so well as an undercover agent. Maybe he just moved so fast that nobody had time to process his expressions. Or maybe it was situation-specific. Ivan knew a lot about being bland when necessary.

“She did break into the Residence…” Ivan knew it was time to feed his cousin a line.

“She entered without the correct permits. During a social occasion.” Miles spoke slowly, Ivan could almost see him reconstructing it in his weaselly little mind.

“She kidnapped the emperor…””

“She engaged in a private discussion with the emperor and several members of his family. On a security matter.”

“She drew a weapon in his presence.”

“She signalled for assistance for the emperor. After giving him some vital information about an imminent, serious security breach.”

“She fled the scene.”

“She was too modest to stay to be thanked and congratulated.”

Ivan grinned, “You’re good. But aren’t you supposed to be honest in your reports?”

“I have to be honest with Gregor. With everyone else I just have to tell the truth.”

“Nice distinction. So… just how are you playing this one?”

Miles was deadly serious now, “It’s my job to give Gregor all the information he needs. I will. And to point the situation towards the best possible outcome. Also on my ‘to do’ list. And to protect the Emperor from situations that may cause political, security, or personal problems. Can you think of anything more likely to cause problems than having a young woman chained up in the Great Square, dying slowly? It’d play merry hell with the tourist trade, for a start.”

“Not a problem.” His stray questions had struck a chord from their interogatee. She rambled on, happily, “I’m sure someone will make sure I commit suicide in my cell. I should have gone with my da after all. Besides, I’m tired of living around the edges all the time. I don’t dare make really close friends, I can’t even consider falling in love with anyone. No husband, no children… I’ve got my business, I have my studies, it’s enough, it has to be enough… but…” she gazed around, muzzily, and fixed on Ivan, “Will you help me? When they come to do my suicide, will you be there? You’re kind.”

She turned towards Miles, “Will I be buried with my parents? There’s room. Or do I just disappear? No grave, no offerings burnt for me… I was never really here…”

“Stop.”

Miles reached for the hypospray that would bring her out of it, then hesitated and launched into a series of fast questions, “Are you loyal to Emperor Gregor?”

“Yes. I wanted to prove that…”

“Do you accept that his Vorbarra dynasty are the true rulers of Barrayar?”

“Yes. I’ve never doubted it. My father never doubted…”

“Would you ever raise your hand against him or his family?”

“No. I truly didn’t mean to hurt him, I thought he was an armsman…”

“Are you a loyal subject of the emperor?”

“Yes. I just wanted to prove it…”

“Have you ever taken a loyalty oath?”

“No, you don’t have to when you go to the university in Vorbarr Sultana. And I’m a woman, nobody’s ever asked me to…”

“Stop.” He pressed the hypospray to her arm and stood back. They watched as the smile eroded into a forced calm. Miles nodded to the guards, “Escort her to the secure accommodation. Keep her there under guard.”

Ivan followed him out of the room, “Not the cells?”

“Not for now, I - ”

“My lord Auditor? Sir, there’s been a development.” An Impsec with Captain’s tab hurried up to them.

“Development?” Miles was already bounding towards the lift shaft.

“An explosion.”


End file.
